New sewer project to produce more development, fewer backups

ROCKFORD — New sewer lines will prime western Winnebago County for development and repairs will help prevent water backups in residents’ basements.

INSIDE: What it means

Kevin Haas

BELOW: What it means

ROCKFORD — New sewer lines will prime western Winnebago County for development and repairs will help prevent water backups in residents’ basements.

Those are two of the major benefits of a sewer connection from the village of Winnebago to the Rock River Water Reclamation District treatment plant on Kishwaukee Street touted by local and state officials Monday.

Four new pipelines will bring sanitary sewer to areas that previously had none and ultimately allow the village to decommission its insufficient, nearly 60-year-old wastewater treatment plant.

The new sewer lines will allow for residential, commercial and industrial development in the Cunningham Road area and the Meridian Road and West State Street corridor, said Dana Carroll, engineering manager for the reclamation district.

“That’s going to open up the Meridian and West State Street intersection that wants to be commercial and (allow) a lot of commercial and job growth,” Carroll said.

The construction site of a 9 million gallon per day pump station at Cunningham and Centerville roads served as the backdrop for a news conference hosted by Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday, where he announced two low-interest loans from the Illinois Clean Water Initiative to help fund the project.

“Any business that comes, or wants to stay in the community, one of the first questions they ask is: What about your wastewater treatment? What about your drinking water?

What about your access to water?” Quinn said during the news conference.

Rockford was one of several stops around Illinois for Quinn on Monday, who was also at Bradley University in Peoria and Augustana College in Rock Island to announce construction grants.

In Rockford, he awarded a $12.9 million loan to help finance construction of the four new sewer lines. A second, $2.2 million loan will finance repairs to a 12-mile section of deteriorated sewer lines to help prevent backups.

Together, those projects are estimated to create about 132 construction jobs and about 56 jobs related to the purchase of services, supplies and equipment, according to Quinn’s office.

“Water infrastructure is a key for job creation and economic development,” Quinn said. “By making these critical upgrades, we can create jobs and make sure that everyone in Winnebago County can avoid sewer problems that hamper regional development.”

The Clean Water Initiative provides below market-rate loans to Illinois communities to give them immediate dollars for drinking water and waste water infrastructure improvements. No state tax dollars are used to provide the loans. The funds come from the equity the state’s loan program has built up while lending to more than 470 communities since 1989. The reclamation district repays the loans through its user fees, which have recently increased to fund these and other capital improvements.

The first phase of construction, which ends at Meridian Road, is expected to last through July 2014. Officials hope to start the second phase, which will take the project from Meridian Road to the village, next year. The village has applied for grants under the same initiative to fund that project and the construction of a new water tower that would support additional development, Village President Frank Eubank said. The existing water tower was built in 1955, he said. It needs several repairs and doesn’t have the capacity needed for future growth, Eubank said.

Extra capacity allowed by the new water tower and the connection to the Kishwaukee Street treatment plant will pave the way for residential, commercial and industrial development along U.S. 20 and Meridian, he said.

Kevin Haas: 815-987-1410; khaas@rrstar.com; @KevinMHaas

What it means
The two state loans totaling $15.1 million will enable the Rock River Water Reclamation District to build four new pipe lines and a 9-million gallons per day pump station to bring sewer service to the village of Winnebago. That will enable the village to decommission its out-of-date wastewater treatment plant.

The move also is expected to allow for residential, commercial and industrial development in the area of Cunningham Road, Meridian Road and West State Street.